This is the Scott Pickett Interview that was in Issue 2 of Big Time Music Trade Magazine, July 1997.

SCOTT PICKETT

SCOTT
: The radio stations are Network radio stations. Network
meaning they are owned by Fox, CBS, NBC, TBN, or Turner, or who eve
owns them. They have their Top 40 play list, that they are
told to play. You can hear it just by listening to them, because
they play the same stuff over and over again. We need some kind
of radio station that plays requests and at least stuff that not Top
40. It's like back in '84, when Van Halen's 1984 came out, the
only two songs you heard on the radio were Jump and Panama, and you
never heard the rest of the album. The rest of the album was
great, those two songs stuck. ( Laughs. ) Now you hear
Metallica's new album, you hear two songs. The rest of the album
is great, but those two songs stink. They
play them so much and you get sick and tired of hearing them all the
time. Somebody's got to get a radio station that listens to the
people. Maine's different anyway, It's not New York, It's not
L.A.. The demographics up here are different. You got
grassroots people up here that want to hear the Lynard Skynard, the
Molly hatchets, and the really god blues stuff. then there's John
Coltrain, Johnny Cochran, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, the old rock and roll
people want to hear. They also want to hear the good new stuff,
not the horse whoie. You listen to the radio stations now, and
that's what it is; It's all commercial.

BIG
TIME : Now when I told you I was starting this magazine,
you asked: " Is it going to be about original musicians? "

SCOTT
: Original music is important. We've got a lot of good
bands up here. You listen to some of the bands that are in some
of the clubs up here, and you got great musicians in some of these
"rinky dink," places; but you don't have the publicity up here.
They don't have the audience, they don't have the draw, and they figure
55 people in a house is great draw, because they are getting the cover
charge. There are some really good young musicians out here
now. you see them in clubs all over the state, I mean, you
can hear them in any state. That's what ticks me off. I've
worked with bands, and some stunk, while others were really good.
It's like; " Man these bands are going to really go
somewhere." and they don't. Then you hear the garbage on
the radio, and it's like, "What happened? How did this get on the
radio? " If anyone is into bootleg tapes, or local bands, pick up
the C.D.'s and tapes. It's like someone has a little old four
track Tascam recorder, or a 8 track, or 16 track studio. When
they throw something together, and that's where your going to hear the
music. That's what it's all about. It's not all about, like
I said, The screaming Cheeta Wheelies, or Marylyn Manson, or how much
money Dennis Rodman can get for putting on a dress. That's all
garbage. You have to go to some of these smaller clubs, and
listen to the bands that are playing there.
Maybe one night a week, showcase local bands; even if the clubs
put on bands out of state-- like the Chez. the Chez should be on
a rotating basis, where bands from out of state, that come through
could be with local bands. Showcasing the local bands will give
these kids a chance. If you're a bar that has name bands coming
through it, or worn out name bands, showcase the local bands so if they
come there a day early, they can see the did and say : " Hey he's
good." They can put his name in with their agent, so that this
kid can get a break, or the band, or songwriter gets a break.
It's not just a band, it's the song writers, it's the people who put
out the C.D.'s it's everybody. If you expand music, then you've
got studio's opening up, with misers and sound men. It's another
business if you want to look at it that way.
Anybody with $2,500 dollars can get an agent. It's the people
without the money that have the money to spend that are going to et
heard. That's the problem, it's the people without the
money, the people who do it because they like to do it, not because
they are getting paid to do it. Those are the people I want to
hear. I'd rather go listen to somebody playing in the Subway,
that's playing for quarters, than somebody who really stinks at a local
bar; that I've got to pay $5 to see.